The Battle of Monument Avenue: Report No. 3.

All day long people posed for pictures with the Lee Monument as a backdrop.

8:45 p.m.: This morning I watched Richmond's mayor, Levar Stoney and Virginia's governor, Ralph Northam, both say plainly they want the bronze generals on Monument Avenue gone. Local television carried their remarks.

"Yes, that statue has been there for a long time," Northam said. "But it was wrong then and it's wrong now. So, we're taking it down."

Outdoors it was another beautiful day. As June 4th wore on lots of visitors came to the neighborhood to bask in the collective sense in the air. In short, that sense was that the multitude of peaceful protestors won yesterday's battle. Friendliness was plentiful.

What will happen after dark remains to be seen. Mayor Stoney and Gov. Northam announced they were moving to rid Monument Avenue of its statues of Confederate heroes on pedestals. Northam can apparently order the Lee Monument removed on own volition. A recently passed Virginia law now allows for it.

On the other hand, Stoney has to convince City Council to see it his way. It won't surprise me if some of them drag their heels. Maybe a faction would like to watch to see how it goes for Northam's bold plan to 86 Gen. Robert E. Lee, sometime after July 1, 2020, when the change in the state law will take effect.

The Lee Monument, six stories tall, was unveiled in 1890, which was 25 years after the Civil War ended. So Lee, depicted as aboard his horse, Traveler, has loomed over the Fan District for 130 years. It was the first of the series of five statues of Confederate heroes to be placed at various intersections along Monument Avenue.